Instructions

ZOOM IN by clicking on the page. A slider will appear, allowing you to adjust your zoom level. Return to the original size by clicking on the page again.

MOVE the page around when zoomed in by dragging it.

ADJUST the zoom using the slider on the top right.

ZOOM OUT by clicking on the zoomed-in page.

SEARCH by entering text in the search field and click on "In This Issue" or "All Issues" to search the current issue or the archive of back issues
respectively.

PRINT by clicking on thumbnails to select pages, and then press the
print button.

SHARE this publication and page.

ROTATE PAGE allows you to turn pages 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise.Click on the page to return to the original orientation. To zoom in on a rotated page, return the page to its original orientation, zoom in, and
then rotate it again.

CONTENTS displays a table of sections with thumbnails and descriptions.

ALL PAGES displays thumbnails of every page in the issue. Click on
a page to jump.

2A |  Legislator: everyone is at risk with open-carry State of the Union PALM BEACH, FROM 1A Florida law forbids the open carrying of guns right now, but does allow citizens to obtain concealed weapons permits. Florida has about 1.4 million citizens who have concealed weapons permits, which is the most in the nation. Powell's town hall meeting was held in West Palm Beach, where just a day later, West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio, and West Palm Beach Police Chief Bryan Kummerlen, met with three police union leaders and another state representative, Dave Kerner, D-Lake Worth, to openly oppose the controversial bill. The Florida Sheriff's Association also opposes the open carry legislation. During Powell's town hall meeting, the subject tipped off a discussion of how blacks would be affected by the bill. Some people felt the open carry legislation was just "another trap" to put more blacks behind bars. Others felt it would open up the door to more police brutality and racial profiling against blacks. Another controversial issue discussed at the town hall meeting was body cameras. The issue became a hot issue in Florida, after the untimely killing of African American drummer Corey Jones in Palm Beach Gardens back in October. The case made national headlines. Powell said as a result of the shooting death of Jones, he has co-sponsored the Law Enforcement Body Cameras bill. When Jones was shot and killed by Palm Beach Gardens plainclothes officer Nouman Raja, there were no cameras to capture the controversial accounts of the late night altercation, which ensued while Jones sat waiting on a tow truck inside of his broken down car. Review commenced didn't think it was necessary to expand that investigation to include the city's law department. Two days later, he announced there would be an independent review, but didn't disclose details. Patton said in an emailed PHOTO COURTESY OF CHICAGOTRIBUNE.COM Chicago Police investigation REVIEW, FROM 1A Chang's ruling was an- other blow for Mayor Rahm Emanuel and a police department that has been the subject of fierce criticism since the city, under court order, released squad-car footage of a white police officer shooting a black teenager 16 times. In the video, 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, armed with a closed pocket knife, is seen veering away from the officer before he opens fire. Days after the video's re- lease, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it was opening a civil rights investigation of the Chicago police department. Emanuel said Tuesday he statement that Webb, who served as U.S. attorney for the northern district of Illinois from 1981 to 1985, will focus on how city attorneys handle discovery - the sharing of evidence with other parties in a case - as well as lawyer training and supervision. Evidence of past or current misconduct will be reported to the city's inspector general, and Webb will provide a public, written report with recommendations for changes, Patton said. “Working with respected experts in the field, we are taking immediate action to ensure that city attorneys never again repeat the violations that were made in the Pinex case and maintain the highest professional standards going forward,” he said. The city will pay Webb $295 per hour, Patton said. Ironically, on last Thursday, the Palm Beach Gardens city council voted to approve body cameras for its police force in the wake of the Corey Jones shooting. The council voted 5-0 to spend over $260,000 to buy body-worn cameras for their officers. A pilot program will begin this winter, but the full body camera program will be implemented in July or August. Powell briefly ran through other pieces of his legislation at the town hall meeting, which includes a very high profile issue called "Ban the Box." On most job applications, there's a box which applicants must check, which asks the question: Have you ever been convicted of a crime? There’s a nationwide movement seeking to do away with that question, citing it doesn't give everyone a fair chance at getting to the interview stage when seeking employment. Most applications are tossed if the applicant checks “yes” to the question. President Barack Obama's My Brother's Keeper Initiative gave “Ban the Box” a huge boost when it endorsed the movement. Powell is hoping to make Florida a “Ban the Box” state. West Palm Beach City Commissioner Cory Neering, spoke about education at the town hall, and said it still needs to be a priority. “As it relates to men of color, a quality education – early childhood education needs to be a priority,” he told the group. Powell said the Legislature will take up the issue of high stakes testing. “We’re changing the way students test,” he added. In addition to body cameras and Ban the Box, other legis- lation sponsored by Powell includes: Criminal Prosecution of Juveniles, Lime Green Light (mental health), Inspector General and Closing the Gap (sickle cell). NAACP: “Kiss my butt” out-of-state drug dealers being the major supplier of heroin in Maine, but this time added the comment about drug dealers impregnating women. Democratic state Sen. Linda PHOTO COURTESY OF HUFFINGTONPOST.COM Gov. Paul LePage GOVERNOR, FROM 1A When asked if the nick- names for the drug dealers imply they are black, LePage replied, “I don't know where the''re from. I don't know if they're white, black, Asian.” He also chastised the assem- bled reporters, saying, “Get your heads out of the sand, please.” He added: “I probably couldn't get so many of you here without saying something foolish.” The governor's comment Wednesday evening in Bridgton drew criticism from Maine and beyond after a Republican activist called attention to it a day later. The Bridgton event was a town hall-style meeting in which the governor was asked about Maine's drug epidemic. He has previously talked about Valentino said after LePage's news conference that she doesn't think LePage is racist but that the comment was. He's also in the midst of an unrelated drive by political opponents to punish him for his actions that led an organization to rescind a job offer to Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves. An independent report indicated LePage put pressure on a charter school operator and his education commissioner withheld a payment after learning that Eves was hired as the organization's president. LePage has said on the cam- paign trail that he'd tell President Barack Obama to “go to hell,” and soon after he was elected to his first term, he told the Portland chapter of the NAACP to “kiss my butt.” He previously likened the IRS to the Gestapo, called protesters “idiots'' and said a political foe liked to “give it to the people without Vaseline.” OBAMA, FROM 1A The White House had billed Obama’s speech as a rethinking of the genre, and delivered. Obama eschewed a lengthy to-do list for Congress and any rollout of new policies. (White House officials have promised to reveal some new plans in the coming weeks, rather than pack them into one night.) Obama only breezed through his remaining priorities — raising the minimum wage, overhauling the immigration system, tightening gun laws — even as he acknowledged they were unlikely to get done. He highlighted a few possible proposals with better chances — criminal justice reform and fighting prescription drug abuse. “Who knows? We might surprise the cynics again,” Obama said. The flip comment was a reminder that the speech, like the president’s final year in office, wasn’t focused on Congress as much as on defending his accomplishments. Obama took some clear shots at the cast of Republicans who’ve used him as a target for months. He defended his handling of the rise of Is- lamic extremism and tried to temper anxieties about the Islamic State group. “Over-the-top claims that this is World War III just play into their hands,” Obama said. “We don’t need to build them up to show that we’re serious, and we sure don’t need to push away vital allies in this fight by echoing the lie that ISIL is somehow representative of one of the world’s largest religions.” With an expected audience of some 30 mil- lion viewers, the speech was Obama’s first of two chances to take Americans squarely by the shoulders and make his case for a Democratic successor. Not until his speech at the Democratic convention this summer, will Obama likely have such undivided attention again. The case he delivered was not new. The pres- ident and his aides have been marveling for months at what they described as Republicans’ gloom-and-doom vision. White House officials have labeled it both inaccurate and bad politics. Some of his arguments echoed the case he makes to donors at fundraising events. In trying to present an optimistic alternative, Obama’s speechwriters were mindful of not taking a victory lap. Americans hardly share his confidence in America’s upward trajectory, polls show. In touting the economic recovery, in particular, Obama risks seeming out of touch. “The president’s record has often fallen far short of his soaring words,” South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said in the Republican rebuttal. “As he enters his final year in office, many Americans are still feeling the squeeze of an economy too weak to raise income levels. We’re feeling a crushing national debt, a health care plan that has made insurance less affordable and doctors less available, and chaotic unrest in many of our cities.” But the president showed he was ready to rebut such comments — once Democrats pick a candidate and he’s unleashed on the trail. Until then, as he told his audience of lawmak- ers and candidates, he understands the hankering to get back to Iowa.